Each event should be covered by the insurance at the event venue. Make sure you check this with the venue before you proceed in organising an event. As the organiser, you are responsible for all aspects of your fundraising including confirming the fundraising activity you are carrying our complies with the law and VAT regulations; ensuring health and safety at the activity and taking responsibility for risk assessments, contingency plans and insurance. The Prince's Trust cannot be held responsible for any incidents at fundraising events held by our supporters.

What are the rules and regulations around raffles and bingo?

Raffles must comply with the law on lotteries and may require a license from your local authority. Please visit the Gambling Commission's website for more information (see section on Regulatory Services/Lotteries). If you organise a bingo night in aid of The Prince's Trust, you will be exempt from the licensing requirements which usually apply to bingo games. However, the stakes/fee must not be more than £4 and the total value of prizes must not exceed £400.

What are the rules and regulations with regards to alcohol, food and entertainment?

If you are not holding your event on licensed premises and are planning to serve alcohol or provide entertainment, please check whether you need to apply for temporary permission from your licensing authority (usually your local authority) using a temporary event notice. For guidance please visit www.gov.uk/government/collections/alcohol-licensing-temporary-events-notices. Food safety laws apply when you supply food at an event. You can get further information from your local authority’s environmental health department.

The Prince's Trust will not be able to approach any celebrity ambassadors on behalf of fundraisers nor will we be able to provide a list of our celebrity supporters. If you do approach celebrities to support your event, please stress that you are 'raising funds to support The Prince's Trust' and that you do not work officially on behalf of The Trust. It can be very difficult to get national celebrities involved in fundraising. Local celebrities such as radio presenters or local news readers are often a better option.

Yes, you are free to create your own materials. By law, the following information about The Prince's Trust must appear on all materials:

The Prince’s Trust is a registered charity number 1079675, incorporated by Royal Charter.

Please note that you cannot use the Prince's Trust logo when creating your own materials. We do however have a 'Raising funds in support of The Prince's Trust' fundraising logo which is downloadable here.

Can I send a press release about my event?

Yes. Remember, journalists receive hundreds of press releases every day, so stories need to stand out to make it into the paper. Before approaching the media think about: why the newspaper or magazine would be interested in your story; in what way it is relevant to their readership; what makes your story unique.

Are there any guidelines for writing a press release?

Yes, if you are writing a press release for your fundraising event or activity, please be sure to refer to the event as '[Event Name] – raising funds to support The Prince's Trust'. Please do not refer to your event as 'The Prince's Trust's [Event Name]'. Please also remember to include the below information about The Prince's Trust in your press release. This will help us to raise vital awareness of our work:

The Prince’s Trust aims to help 56,000 disadvantaged young people in the UK this year, giving them the confidence and skills to turn their lives around

77% of young people on Prince's Trust schemes move into work, training or education

The work of The Trust is only made possible through partnerships and donations from supporters

Who should I send my press release to?

That’s up to you – but here are some ideas of who you might like to contact:

The newspaper local to where you live

The newspaper local to where you work

Your local radio station

Your company's internal or external magazines and newsletters

Your company's website and intranet

Newsletters of any community groups you belong to

Unless you have existing contacts at these publications, the best person for you to ask for is the News Editor.

How can I make sure photographs are included in any media coverage?

If a local paper agrees to cover your event you might want to ask them to send a photographer. You can also submit photographs yourself along with your press release. Make sure you use a good quality, high resolution digital camera.

What should I tell the media about the work of The Prince's Trust?

You can use these three key phrases when describing our work to the media:

The Prince's Trust aims to help 56,000 disadvantaged young people in the UK this year, giving them the confidence and skills to turn their lives around

77% of young people on Prince’s Trust schemes move into work, training or education

The work of The Trust is only made possible through partnerships and donations from supporters

The easiest way for you to collect donations and claim Gift Aid is by setting up your own JustGiving page.

Select The Prince's Trust as your charity

Personalise your page with a photo, then explain what you're doing for The Prince's Trust – and why

Share your link on Facebook, Twitter and in an email to all your contacts

Collecting donations from your family and friends couldn't be easier. You can also pay in offline donations using a credit/debit card!

Can I have my own text giving code?

Yes you can! Simply set up your JustGiving page as above, register for your own code (eg JOHN21 or SWIM33), and promote your code on fundraising materials, t-shirts or posters by asking people to text your code followed by an amount between £1-£10 to 70070. For example:

Text JOHN21£3 to 70070 to donate to my sponsored swim.

Any donations that come through will then show up on your JustGiving page alongside any other sponsorship you receive.

Can I use another online provider?

We prefer you to use JustGiving. Over 24 million people have raised 1.9 billion for charity on JustGiving. The site makes fundraising simple, fast, effective and fun. If you would prefer to use another provider please speak to us so we can ensure we'll be able to recognise your fundraising efforts.

Banking the money yourself and paying into your JustGiving page using a debit or credit card

Banking the money and sending us a personal cheque made out to The Prince's Trust or paying in cash at a Post Office and sending us a postal order (all postal orders and cheques should be sent to the Donations Team, The Princes Trust, 9 Eldon Street, London, EC2M 7LS). Remember to send your details too, so that we know where to allocate the money and, importantly, who to thank!

Paying the money directly into our bank account. Drop us a line and we'll give you all the details you need to do this. You can contact us here or phone us on 020 7543 1384 (Mon to Friday, 9am-5pm).

Of course! Our lovely team is on hand to offer inspiration and advice to those brand new to fundraising and to seasoned fundraisers alike. You can contact us here or phone us on 020 7543 1384 (Mon to Friday, 9am-5pm).

The money you raise will automatically go to the areas that need it most. This allows us to be more efficient with your fundraising, allowing us to help more young people. If you feel a particular connection to an area or programme please get in touch with us.

What are donations spent on?

You can see examples of what donations are spent on, how much of every pound goes directly to the cause and, if you like, our full accounts, by reading our annual reports.

When you sign up to an open challenge event for The Prince's Trust, you can choose your payment option. When a registration fee is required, you will pay this directly to the event supplier upon booking and usually online. This is generally non-refundable, is part of your event cost and will be in addition to the costs below.

Self-payment option: The tour cost is the amount you will need to personally pay directly to the event supplier, so you are paying 100% the event cost yourself. The Prince's Trust then asks you to fundraise as much as you can as a donation to the charity, and a suggested minimum is £500 although the more you raise the more we can help disadvantaged young people.

Fundraising option: The fundraising target is a minimum sponsorship commitment that you fundraise for The Prince's Trust if you choose a challenge event. The Prince's Trust fundraising team will help you every step of the way to ensure you achieve this, but time and careful planning is the key. From the total amount you have raised The Prince's Trust will pay the tour cost of your event and the remaining amount you fundraise will come into us as a donation. Most treks require 80% of your fundraising target to be reached 10 weeks before departure, and if you have not reached this amount by then you may risk losing your place on the event.